A New Home
by Blu-black
Summary: DG is now officially a princess of the O.Z. Though many people expect that she'll be able to do this easily she finds her new responsibilities and feelings for old friends harder to handle than originally thought with the added bonus of sisters and zero.
1. Coronation

Disclaimer: I do not own Tin Man, or any recognisable characters... unfortunatly.

I know that I don't really update my stories all that regularly but thats mainly due to I write whatever i feel like at the moment. Since I already have a story for the sequel which I really can not wait to write, I'll probably stick to this story more than others. Saying that, (and I know it's annoying) I normally write more for the stories I get more reveiws for.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Suggestions are welcome. I'm using a combination of Tin Man, The Wizard of Oz (movie) and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (book)... but mainly Tin Man (obviously)The first thing to notice was the amount of colour in the throne room. It was nearly blinding at sunrise when the light from the two suns illuminated the whole room, sweeping the colour from the stained glass windows onto the main features of the room- the main door and the throne.

* * *

D.G. had heard about the beauty of the room and even though she desperately wanted to see it, was forced to save it for today. That was probably the only reason she agreed to this. Her artist's curiosity won over her farm girl fear of being the centre of attention. At least she hoped it was because of her time in Kansas, otherwise she might have to admit it was her personality and that wasn't the best emotion to hold on a day like today.

The drums began to play and D.G. noted another difference of the O.Z. from the other side. All of these sorts of occasions had organs playing in the background, playing a solemn song that reminded people of their religion. Here it was all about the mood of the day- organs and harps playing slowly for funerals; slow, steady drums for a trial (music played at every official event); and this triumphant noise was played on days that signified a new beginning like coronations or weddings.

The ruby slippers glimmered on D.G.'s feet and she closed her eyes and tapped her heels together twice nervously. All she wanted to happen was the doors to open and the sun to filter in so she could marvel in its beauty. Instead she had to wait until the suns were in the perfect position while the maids fussed over her emerald coloured dress, making sure that it was straight but not to straight. The material flowed over her like liquid nature she thought and grinned slightly. This was a dress she could be caught dead in.

Finally the doors opened and the music that flooded through faintly before came bursting into life. The air was filled with colour and everyone was dressed in red and green to signify the event. It was like Christmas on the other side. Her eyes flickered around the room to see the few people she knew grinning at her proudly. Her mother and father were at the back of the room, right where she was about to walk out of while Azkadellia, Raw and Jeb were all waiting for her in the stands. Az, ever the sweetie blew her little sister a kiss before grasping onto Jeb's arm and whispering in his ear. He sniggered softly but composed himself when he saw the princess glaring at the two of them.

Guitars started up and out of nowhere a Wyatt Cain steps next to D.G. If they hadn't practiced this the day before she would have shrieked and abused him, a crowd full of noblemen and women onlookers or not. She took the arm he offered her and smiled nervously at him, showing as little teeth as possible.

"You look beautiful Princess." He whispered to her and her smile got a little wider with the compliment.

"You don't look to bad yourself Tin Man." She replied softly and they began to walk in time with the music as he chuckled. D.G. let her eyes drift over the crowds and saw many people she had been introduced at the rehearsal the evening before. Each gave a small bow as she passed them until finally she reached the stage. Cain directed her up to where another of her friends stood. He smiled nervously at D.G. hoping to give her the little confidence he had. For a moment the farm girl forgot about the rest of the people as she noticed what Ambrose (still Glitch in her mind) was wearing.

His old clothes had been ceremoniously burnt, as had hers and everyone else who played a major role in defeating the witch and now he was dressed in the guard's dress uniform, the medals he received a few days before making small tinkling noises every time he moved. His normally wiry hair was slicked back and his tattered uniform had been replaced. It wasn't easy- she remembered meetings with him being cut short as the dress maker needed new measurements for every part of his uniform.

She saw his eyes sweep over her, and she imagined Cain saw it to as his grip on her arm tightened slightly before releasing.

"You look… amazing." He started his voice low enough that underneath the drums only her and his father could hear. "Princess..." Glitch quickly added. Even though they were friends lately he could not address her by anything other than her royal title.

"You can't call me that for much longer." She replied with a smirk. Long had she insisted he call her by her nickname, but being for some reason he refused. Cain had been calling her 'Princess' increasingly as well.

"Maybe…" He murmured with a gulp. He had been against Zero's men, attacked Azkadellia's castle, and been part of a rebellion army but this he was nervous about. Some day he would have to sort out his priorities.

The music suddenly stopped and Lavender and her husband Ahamo walked up to the stage gracefully. D.G. had often wondered why they were insisting that she do this- why it couldn't be them as rulers of the O.Z. but apparently 

she was the symbol of hope for the Outer Zone. It was better to have hope leading the world instead of simply in the shadows for photo opportunities.

It was a simple ceremony. This side mainly focused on the mood of the occasion rather than a bunch of words that didn't mean anything, D.G. noted. Taking ahold of Glitch's hand she unhooked from the ex-Tin Man and his hand encased hers as well. Golden light emitted from the hands held together and all three jumped slightly. This part hadn't been practised, though they had heard about it and Wyatt Cain had even seen it happen at the coronation of Queen Lavender he would never have expected it to be like this.

His head hurt like nothing else and thoughts invaded his head that he knew did not belong to him.

_This is so weird. Is every ceremony in this place like this? Oh god my head is killing me… I wonder if Cain and Glitch are hurting as much as me…_

_Sure am kid. _He thought, not expecting her to hear him but surprise flooded through his body.

_Cain? _She asked back mentally. He suddenly blissful. Like the time he and Adora got married and they were telepathically chatting away while the Mystic Man married them. _The Mystic Man married you two? _He heard her think and he suddenly clenched his jaw, determined not to think anything else.

On the other side of D.G. Glitch was simply staring at the golden light.

_Wow._

_I didn't think you would be a man of little thoughts. _D.G. thought in amusement and then bit her lip in embarrassment as she realised he heard her and she could feel his emotions coursing through her.

_D.G.? You can hear my thoughts? Can you read all of my memories? _At that enquiry she closed her eyes and concentrated, stilling the two men's conscious thoughts and attempted to dip into their subconsciousness. There she found a sea of confused thoughts that had no connection. It was a mixture of memories, hopes, dreams and too make it more confusing it was both men's subconsciousness at the same time. Taking a deep breath D.G. closed her eyes a little tighter and felt as if she was falling in. When she hit the pool of thoughts she was nearly suffocated.

_Adora. Mother. Thingamajigs. Papay. Other side. Azkadellia. Old Road. Grave. Death. Protect the Princess. Die for the Queen. Die for the princess. Scarecrow. Sergeant. Crack in the O.Z. Kid. Family. Love. Advisor duties. Inventions. Honour. Father. Light. Blindness. Jewellery. For her. Pain. Meaningless. Alchemists. Deaf. Table. Doll. Throne. All about rhythm. Son. Surgery. Holograms. New Era. D.G. Dying. Torture. Pain. Screaming. Death. Death. Death. DEATH. DEATH. DEATH. DEATH. SCREAMNG. LOSS. ALONE. DEATH. D.G. TORTURE. ZERO. AZKADELLIA. DEATH. ADORA. JEB. D.G. DEATH. DEATH. WAR. FRIENDS IN BATTLE. DEATH. DEATH. DEATH. DEATH. GET OUT OF THEIR HEAD MY LITTLE SWEETY. NOOOO!!_

Pain erupted from D.G.'s chest and she let go of the men's hands in reaction and grabbed her head. A flash of light burst from the three of them, signifying for the ceremony to continue.

Cain noticed D.G. was breathing deeply, as if she was struggling for oxygen and tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder. Glitch was busy looking at his hands, wondering what had happened. One moment he was talking (was he talking to her?) to D.G. and the next a voice was screaming in his head.

"You have now felt each other's feelings about what is to happen." They heard Queen Lavender announce. All three looked up at her, D.G. a bit less attentive than the others. "Wyatt Cain of the Outer Zone police squadron, knowing you are choosing for the world, do you accept that Dorothy Gale the second is to become the new Princess, a ruler and protector of the Outer Zone?"

"I do." He replied, his voice echoing so that the entire hall of people could hear.

"And Ambrose, Advisor to the former Queen of the Outer Zone, knowing you are choosing for the world, do you accept that Dorothy Gale the second is to become the new Princess, a ruler and protector of the Outer Zone?" Ahamo asked Glitch and he nodded slightly.

After a moment he realised that wasn't enough and cleared his throat before replying to Ahamo "I do" with a deeper voice than he normally had. If D.G.'s mind still wasn't with the voices she heard, she would have grinned at him. But the screeching voice that told her to get out of their heads was still replaying in her head over and over.

"After hearing how the people of the Outer Zone see you and love you, do you Dorothy Gale accept the duties of a Queen's daughter, loving and protecting this world as if it were your own?" Lavender asked her daughter and D.G. snapped back into reality.

She could simply say no. Live in the O.Z., stay in the palace but have none of the responsibilities she was to have if she accepted this responsibility. Her mother had already offered this, and for a few days she had considered it as a reality. But when Az had explained to her why the witch wanted the throne so dearly- power, riches and a whole world as an army- she knew that she would have to do this. To make sure that her mistake would not become someone else's again. So that no one else would have to go through what she or her sister had been through.

"I do. I will be in every battle alongside them. I will be there to make sure that no one takes over our world and plunges it into darkness. I will be there to love every child, every adult and lead them to a new and brighter future. I will be not only a symbol for the O.Z. but a means for the meaning of a symbol to become a reality. I accept these responsibilities and will learn and teach about all forms and worlds I can and have experienced." D.G. replied. The statement was one that her and her sister had been going through every night since Az returned to her normal state and now D.G. realised how stupid it sounded. Not the parts that Az suggested, like being in battle, but the bits she made up about teaching and learning. Fantastic. She had ruined the coronation with crappy writing skills.

D.G. then remembered what she was meant to do now and feel to her knees, hanging her head low. A tiara was placed on her head that she had never seen (for ceremonious purposes) and she swore it moulded to her head. A single person began to clap and D.G. turned around to see her elder sister grinning and beating her hands together. A moment later Raw and Jeb joined in. The whole hall erupted into applause and Jeb's hands stopped hitting one another and moved to his mouth where he whistled. Several nobility glared at him which he ignored.

D.G. turned her head to the front again to hide her grin, the voice in her head now long forgotten. She felt hands at her arms and they pulled her up so that she was once again (more or less) face to face with her mother and father. They both hugged her and Lavender walked to the front of the stage, close to the crowd.

"I give you Princess Dorothy Gale of the Outer Zone!" Her last few words were drowned out as a roar of cheers came from the crowd as a few of the city folk were allowed to enter.

The new princess's mutter of "D.G." in correction was also drowned out to all those but Glitch and Cain who both just grinned at her and forgetting the crowd turned their backs to the rest of the hall to congratulate their friends.

"I am so proud of you Kid." Cain told her. D.G.'s throat blocked up in the sudden surge of emotions- gratefulness, fear, love, pride.

"Same here Doll." Glitch told her and she suddenly jumped at them giving them both a hug. "I know it took a lot of bravery to do something like this so suddenly."

"Thank you so much you guys." She whispered in their ears and they simply squeezed tighter in response. Forgetting her new position, she lightly pressed her lips to both of their cheeks which made the crowd call out louder. It was nice to know that their leader was just as human as they were.

They all stepped back and Glitch's face was pink, a small smile on his face. "I'll talk about your new position later." D.G. told him quietly and his skin returned to its normal pale complexion as he gave her an inquisitive look.

She turned to Cain's face which was… well, turned away from her. Thinking he must be embarrassed to be seen kissed (even if it was only on the cheek) by the new princess she let him be.

D.G. started down the stairs and Azkadellia ran up and took her arm, hooking it in hers as they made their way to yet another hall for the celebrations that were to follow…


	2. Dances and Danger

DG tripped yet again at she attempted to waltz around the room with a Nobel from somewhere she'd never heard of. A blush possibly brighter red than her shoes invaded her face and the older man chuckled. She had since warned him about her dancing and as Glitch put it 'her loss of rhythm' but she suspected he only wanted to show his friends that he danced with the new Queen of the O.Z. She didn't mind- he was one of many- but she would rather sit down and talk with her sister than tripping over and stepping on some nobilities feet constantly.

The song ended and the man left DG to find her family and dodge the rest of the dancers with a flourishing bow. Once she was safely off the dance floor she felt a silk hand grab ahold of her bare arm and jumped, to see her sister smiling down onto her. It was a smile that reassured the younger sister that the witch was truly gone from her sibling- for tonight at least. They could only hope that the nightmares would go away soon enough.

'You have to help me with your friend.' She simply said, and left DG to wonder what she meant as she dragged her around the hall to the few remaining tables left from dinner. These were left for those who were partnerless, or in the case of the man that Azkadellia was leading her sister to, completely unable of any locomotor function apart from lifting their drink to their mouth.

'Cain?' The fedora rose to show DG a slightly reddened face of Wyatt Cain, newly instated Head of Military. He grunted a greeting at the two women and Azkadellia left her sister to try to talk some sense into the intoxicated ex-Tin Man.

'What are you doing?' She asked and placed a hand softly over the one that was not clamped around the glass.

'I'm sitting around. Go have fun Princess. I doubt you'll be able to do it for a fairly long time after now.' He told her with a slightly slurred voice.

'What are you doing? I can worry for myself if I need to- you on the other hand need to go spend time with your son. He's leaving tomorrow for two months.' She grabbed the glass off him and tried to pull him into a standing up position. '_And _you promised me a dance.' Cain stayed sitting despite her best efforts and finally she sat down opposite him.

'Don't worry about me princess.' A hint of pity invaded his slurred words, and he grabbed the hand that had recently let go of his. 'Worry about you. Soon you'll have to deal with responsibility, the hopes of a world resting on you, learning about a land that you've left a long time ago and seems to get stranger by the day, with the added bonus of looking after your sister and probably hardly ever seeing your friends.' He smiled sadly at her before pulling the fedora over his face and one single statement came from under the hat:

'You're the one who thought that in the first place.'

With that DG looked at the remanets of Cain's drink in her hand and brought it to her lips, ignoring the bitter taste. He was obviously drinking it for a reason- it must help. Cain brought a hand up and waiter was instantly at his side, handing him a drink that seemed to be liquid light and offered one to the girl across from him. The waiter seemed oblivious that he was offering alcohol to the new princess.

'Thanks.' She said, not bothering to look at the waiter or the drink she raised to her lips. Cain lifted his slightly as if saying a cheers, and drank the whole in one mouthful, bringing his eyes to look at DG. Reactively, he grasped her wrist to stop her from drinking the liquid.

'What?' She asked, feeling his grip that was tighter than usual and she looked down into the cup. In it, the light seemed to dim and liquid becoming more viscous, bubbling slightly. 'Oh…' She dropped the cup and it fell slightly askew, spilling its contents on the table. With a slight hiss and a mask of green smoke it melted the cloth it fell on, and the reinforced glass underneath. 'I'm guessing it's not supposed to do that.' Her voice was full of awe at the ability of both Cain and the liquid.

'We need to get you out of here.' The slurring had gone from Cain's speech with the threat of his leader's life sobering him. The smoke had caught the attention of a few of the ball-goers and they looked with horrified interest at the scene before them.

Cain's first reaction was to attack the waiter who gave her the drink, but he seemed surprised as the both of them. He noticed the boy's eyes changed slightly from a murky green colour to a natural brown. A surprised squeal from the main table sounded and DG recognised it as belonging to her sister and before Cain could stop her she ran to where her family were supposed to be sitting.

'Princess Azkadellia!' Glitch shouted and as she weaved through the crowd, DG saw the royal advisor push past people he would normally have to bow to, run towards her sister. The horde of nobles seemed to have formed a semi-circle around the elder princess, the shock of the event not yet making everyone begin to scream. Once she had gotten to the table, DG spilt the remanets of the cup Azkadellia was still holding on the floor. A louder hissing noise erupted, provoking the first scream. The new princess cringed as she heard a window break, and she didn't need Cain to tell her that they were under immense threat.

DG reached towards her sister to see how badly she was hurt, but before their skin made contact her chest erupted into the same pain she felt during her coronation and she squeezed her eyes shut in response.

_GET AWAY FROM HER!_ A rough voice that seeming frightingly familiar ordered her. Someone clasped onto her arm and a wave of soothing flowed through her. DG opened her eyes reluctantly to see Azkadellia looking at her worriedly. DG simply shook her head and inspected the lip.

'What's wrong?' She asked the elder princess who looked at the younger one sceptically in reply. She pointed her head towards the smouldering floor.

'That.' She said, stating the obvious. DG would have laughed if the situation wasn't as serious as it was, but instead waited for her to give a proper explanation of what happened.

'I saw the drink change. It gave me a bit of a fright, so I screamed.' Azkadellia waved her hand as if to reassure DG that there was nothing wrong but she knew her sister was not ignorant of her feelings and reactions. 'I'll tell you the whole story later.' She reassured DG. Her gaze trailed off to past her sisters shoulder and DG followed it, turning around to see a fully armed Jeb Cain run towards them, through the screaming crowd.

'There's some one- thing- out there.' He told the girls hurriedly. DG felt her sister clasp her hand instinctively as she did when she woke from nightmares. The light flew through the both of them, calming them both down, and allowing them both to think and act rationally. 'It's making sure no one gets out.'

DG suddenly felt faint and could feel the darkness holding the doors closed. _ZERO! GO AFTER THE LITTLE GIRLS. KILL ANYONE WHO GETS IN THE WAY._

The voice was the same- she was sure about that, but it was farther away. She suspected the reason she wasn't struggling to breathe was because the order wasn't directed at her. Beside her, DG felt her sister exhale a breath of relief. After an inquiring prod to the consciousness, Azkadellia nodded her head slightly at DG. She had heard it too.

_Zero._ She felt her sisters thoughts flow into hers and DG was reminded of the Cain she had just left behind moments ago.

A large bang startled (to say the least) everyone and DG remembered the explosives Jeb's men planted at the witch's tower. Apparently so did he as he immediately tried to get everyone away from where debris was now falling with muffled _thumps_.

A smash informed them that part of the tiled ceiling had landing on the glass tables that had survived the initial blast. No matter how much Jeb tried, he could not hold DG back when she realised Wyatt Cain had been at that table moments ago.

When she reached the table she was relieved to find that the table held no corpse of Cain, or anybody else for that matter. She looked to the ceiling to see the damage done when she saw a piece of the bird's beak fall down. She heard Azkadellia's scream and turned to see what was wrong when her world went black.

Wyatt Cain was severely pissed off. Not only did he trip over for a second time in five minutes but there was a crowd of screaming people running around everywhere, a viewer who had told him what he _did not_ want to hear and an unaccountable royal family. When DG had left him to go to Azkadellia he knew there would be trouble. What he didn't expect was that the two princesses would not be the cause of it.

'Don't worry. DG fine.' Raw told the man over his shoulder before trying to calm down a woman who wouldn't stop screaming. Two glasses around her had already been broken. Whether by the pitch of her voice or simply everyone smashing theirs for fear that they would turn to acid, he wasn't sure.

'Well I suppose that means I won't get sacked.' Cain growled back and saw a man that had a knife in his hand. He immediately tacked him to the ground, feeling his knees crack as he jumped. 'I'm too old for this.' He muttered and took the silverware off the now conscious but dazed man.

There was a crash and a thud as a thousand pieces of colourful glass rained on the crowd as one of the stained windows were smashed with what he thought was a rock. A slight ticking noise alerted him and he quickly glanced over at the silver object. His worries confirmed, he grabbed everyone around him that he could and with Raw next to him they ran just missing the flames that erupted behind them, sending shards of newly heated material with them.

'Everybody okay?' He tried to ignore the few charred bodies that lay still, leaving it to the healers to get to them. It may sound harsh, but he had a room full of every noble in the country as well as the royal family. He had to try to make sure the rest of them stayed unharmed and get out of the palace as soon as possible.

'People are hurt Cain.'

'I _know,_ you furball.' He growled, a little more threateningly than he meant to. A muffled crash told him that the ceiling of the hall was beginning to fall from the impact of the blast and he knew he needed to get people out of there now. Starting with the royal family.

He tried to tell himself it was just because they were the leaders of his land, but he knew that wasn't it. It was a good enough reason for the moment though, and he began to make his way to the head table. Another scream from Azkadellia, more urgent than the last pushed him faster.

'DG!' Glitch, Jeb, Azkadellia, the King consort and Queen all screamed at the same time. With almost inhuman speed and agility, he pushed his way through the crowd and ran to where he heard them all. When he got to the group, he found Jeb holding Azkadellia back. His gaze drifted to where Azkadellia was attempting to struggle towards and saw DQ lying in an awkward position, tiles crashing around her and a small puddle of blood around her head. Thankfully, apart from the head injury nothing had hit her… yet.

Jeb may have been able to hold the elder Gale daughter back, but there was no way he could have held his father. He barrelled towards the princess, and carefully scooped her up, careful not to shake her head too much. To him there was no noise, but to the onlooker's debris fell around the two, nearly hitting them at several points.

Cain heard the slipper in his arms give a slight moan as he set her down around her family and friends, and let Glitch check her for any other injuries, and watched the king and queen hold each other as DG woke up slightly.

'Raw! Get over here!' Glitch called, shaking the girl slightly to wake her up. 'Doll?'

'Cain?' She mumbled and her eyes fluttered open.

'Yeah kid, I'm here.' He leaned over Glitch's shoulder, pushing a stray lock out of his face. When DG reached for his hand that was resting on the ground, he willed himself to remain poker faced and his skin the normal tone.

'DG hurt.' Raw mumbled as he managed to push himself through the small crowd that had started to grow around the younger princess. He ignored the feelings that were being projected by Cain, deciding to try to talk some sense into the man later.

'I'll be fine soon Raw.' DG muttered softly and felt a furry hand brush softly on the wound, causing her to flinch involuntarily. He pushed out all the positive feelings people were sending her way and soon enough she was left with nothing but a small bruise.

_Thanks_. She thought strongly and he smiled in reply, encouraging her to do what she needed to do.

'I'm fine Glitch.' She assured the royal advisor as he tried to help her up, instead being pushed back. Cain was still trying to compose himself as DG refused to let go of his hand.

'You okay Deeg?' Azkadellia asked worriedly, forgetting about her telepathic connection with her sister for the moment.

'Fine Az. Do you know where Zero is?' Cain stiffened at the name as the elder sister shook her head sadly.

'I haven't heard anything yet.'

'Let's hope it stays like that. Come on, we need to try and find somewhere the thing outside hasn't blocked off and get these people out of here.' She began to walk away, towards the door that was on the damaged half of the room. Everyone stood back cautiously but DG and Cain, fingers still touching lightly. When she realised they were walking by themselves, DG turned, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face.

'We can't do this alone, and this is probably the most dangerous place to be at the moment.' She offered, but Jeb still looked wary, trying to decide whether to make the elder princess stay here or follow her into a situation that would put her in even more danger. Even here he knew that all the long coats he supposed were outside would do is throw grenades until they decided to come into the actual castle.

Giving them a last smile that sent a small shiver down each spine she said casually, but as if she were daring them- 'Ten years on, don't you want to say you had the courage to walk through this door?'

And with that the newly coronated princess, still wearing an emerald gown and ruby slippers walked off with a fedora bearing Tin Man, encouraging them to fight for their lands once again.

Glitch rolled his eyes, and looked mainly at Raw.

'Didn't we just finish the whole saving the world thing?' And with that he was off, his crimson ceremonious jacket flapping after him, as if the rest of the group were bulls being encouraged to chase after the colour, heads down and rearing to go.


	3. Bedtime Stories

'Glad you could make it.' Cain muttered to his son, as the younger Cain began to usher people through the large door. The sisters were at the back of the growing crowd, their eyes closed in concentration as they created a shield to stop anything falling on the screaming people.

'I had to think about the other sister as well.' Jeb muttered in reply. He noticed his father's gaze shift to the younger sister behind them and didn't know what to think. Adora only died a year ago- but then he may be over reacting. 'How are we going to get these people out of here?' Jeb finally asked, his voice changing from bitterness to soft desperation.

'I'm not sure…' Wyatt replied, apparently looking around for someone. Once he had found the head full of zipper and dark curls he called out.

'Did someone say my name?' Glitch asked the viewer next to him, as they inspected the rest of the crowd for injuries. The few people who did survive the direct blast were already lying down, having the majority of their skin injuries healed.

Raw simply nodded his head, and made the shape of a hat brim before closing his hands around the woman's ankle that was bleeding from a broken table she had tripped over.

'Oh! Cain.' Glitch said happily as he recognised the voice as it came from a closer distance to him.

'Zipper head, we need to know if there are any tunnels or anything out of this castle.' He said once he had come close enough to look threatening. He decided it must have worked when Glitch gulped and nodded his head in understanding.

'I think…' he began, trying to remember something- anything- that would stop the Head of Military looking at him like that. 'There has to be some.' He told himself, tapping his forehead in frustration. Though he had been connecting more with Ambrose recently, Glitch still hadn't been prepared enough to have the operation- that and the other facts of all the Alchemists (which DG was surprised to find was an actual species) being faithful to only the witch and Glitch still wasn't sure whether he wanted to turn into the stuffy man he used to be.

'Mr Cain?' A nervous voice twittered from behind them. They both span on their heels to see the elder princess- there was no mistaking her for the witch. Where she was too confident, Azkadellia was nervous and extremely self-conscious as she thought that everyone was against her.

'No need for Mr's here, highness.' Cain muttered, and looked briefly for DG over Azkadellia's shoulder to see she was talking to her parents, with an extremely annoyed look on her face. He quickly looked back to her elder sister as DG looked over at him- presumably for support about whatever argument she was having.

'Yes… well.' She cleared her throat nervously and looked at his face, though clearly avoiding his eyes. 'I might be able to help you finding the secret tunnels. The ones the long coats don't know about I mean…'

Cain was struck by the way the princess talked. So far the depths their conversations had gone to were her giving orders (kindly) to him, and asking where DG was. Her sister had explained how she was slowly building up confidence and had helped her to write her speech for loyalty to the O.Z., for the coronation. But here… she behaved as if he was demanding information from her, threatening her.

True he hadn't been all that friendly to her- her's was the hand that practically signed Adora's death warrant. He knew also that this was the one thing (at the moment) the DG could not abide- she kept reminding everyone around her that Azkadellia was not the one who tried to bring eternal darkness, it was the witch of the South.

'Wonderful!' Glitch exclaimed after a momentary awkward silence. 'Isn't it Cain?' The royal advisor hit the other man on the shoulder with surprising strength, snapping him out of whatever kind of trance he was in.

'Yeah, that's good highness.' He could never bring himself up to calling her "princess"- that was reserved as one of DG's nicknames. 'I need to go talk to your sister about something, but could you show Jeb where all of these tunnels are.'

Jeb, hearing his name turned his full concentration to the conversation he only had one ear to previously. 'Father?'

'Jeb, I want you to listen to where all of these tunnels are. I'm going to go get the on duty soldiers that are still stuck downstairs, and when they come up you are going to organise them to block off the tunnels the Long coats know of, and take the crowd down the tunnels they don't. Three soldiers in front of the crowd, two behind. Split the groups up remember.' Much of what he said, Jeb didn't bother listening to- he was a soldier too and knew the procedure.

Giving a small tap of his hat, he walked off to the princess that was now having an argument with one of the nobles. The old man seemed to think he was the superior one in the conversation, medals tinkling slightly on his chest.

'Is there a problem here?' Cain asked, not sure whose side he was meant to be on.

'Ah, Cain. I was hoping you could please explain to this young woman-' Cain stiffened slightly at the informal reference to the princess. The old man did not notice. 'The problems with this plan of hers. She seems to believe that she will be distracting the people outside, _herself_.'

Cain turned to DG, opening his mouth to argue with her about whatever plan she had concocted, but realised it would be simpler if he got rid of the old soldier first.

'General Reeve, as much as I agree that the princess has some issues with understanding her place in the greater scheme of things-'

'What?' DG interrupted loudly. Cain glared at the girl, who just stood where she was, her silk covered arms crossed over her chest and broke her gaze.

'-I have to protest to you referring to her in such a manner. She is your leader, and not someone you call "young woman" and _certainly _not someone you argue with when you are no longer part of the Ozian Army. Remember, I only call you "general" out of respect.' Cain noticed the man's indignant expression was growing slightly more red, but remained monotone.

'Mr. Reeve,' DG interrupted, clearly not caring about respecting the man with a false title that she was just arguing with, 'Would you please excuse Cain and I?'

It seemed the man was waiting for an excuse, and after a few moments it was clear he was not going to receive one.

'Of course your highness.' He replied, his head and voice lowered at her continuous glare.

'Okay, before you say anything I think you should listen to the plan.' DG started, her confidence starting to shrink as all of Cain's fury could be directed onto her. Everyone who was listening in onto Reeve and the princess's conversation was now fully turned away. Arguments between the princess and the Tin Man could be heard from miles away and were never pretty. Besides, they normally heard both sides of the argument later anyway, as the two complained about each other. It was as if they had no idea that both of them hardly ever complained about the actual subject, but mainly the stupidity of the other person.

'What the hell are you thinking? "Distracting" them yourself?' He demanded, fury growing with every word.

'Cain! Just listen to me!' When Cain had calmed down enough for him to be able to listen to her properly, DG realised that the General had given pretty much the extent of her plans.

'Well?'

'Well, I spose he pretty much summed it up.' She replied, nodding her head towards the retreating General.

'You don't have a further plan?' He rolled his eyes at the girl, ignoring her glare. 'Well I do.' He grabbed her wrist, taking her with him to the on-duty soldiers.

DG's arguments had no affect on Cain as they ran down the steep stairs, careful that neither of them tripped over the dress that had began to tatter.

'What's this plan of yours then?'

'I get you out of here.' He replied simply, knowing that she will have something to say about his hypocrisy. She opened her mouth to say something, but his glare kept her silent for the time being. 'Hopefully they'll be a couple of Seethers on-duty.' He muttered, and DG nodded, not bothering to ask what a Seether was. There was still a lot she didn't know about Ozian creatures and military positions, and was known to often mix up the two.

When they reached the stone hall each man and woman stiffened to attention and gave a salute to their General. The closest soldiers gave a stiff bow to the princess, but she just shook her head slightly before anyone else could.

'We're under attack.' Cain put bluntly, and DG was surprised by the lack of information the soldiers accepted as they began to file into lines, leading out of the door they just came through. 'You are to listen to Commander Cain. No one else's instructions are higher than his, than mine or the King-consort or Queen. If either princess gives instructions make sure that either Jeb or I okay it too.'

DG gave a quick glare to the back of Cain's neck, knowing exactly why he said that.

'I can be trusted.' She hissed, and crossed her arms over her chest at his laugh.

'No, you can't.' He replied, his voice still full of amusement, and he ordered the men and women to fall out.

These soldiers were not there for decoration- though many were not armed they were extremely dangerous and DG saw a few who looked more so than the others. She guessed these as the Seethers Cain mentioned, and their pupiless eyes made her slightly nervous. You couldn't be truly sure what way they were looking, but it always looked like they were staring at something.

'It's odd to see women in the guard detail.' DG muttered to Cain as they walked back to the hall behind the rest of the group.

'I thought there was no guard detail on the other side.' Cain replied stiffly.

'Well no, but in movies and such.' She explained. The man grunted slightly, not bothering to ask what movies were at the moment. He would ask Glitch when- if- this whole thing was over.

When they reached the hall, DG felt something heavy slam into her and lost balance, falling to the floor. She heard a slight yell of 'Princess', but simply smirked at the concern that showed at the most inconvenient of moments.

'Sorry Deeg.' Azkadellia muttered, and lifted herself back up, offering a hand to her sister. She took it, and waited for the elder sibling to explain what she was so excited about. 'We think we know what's outside.' Azkadellia said, a buzz of excitement invading her voice.

'We?'

'Ambrose and I. Can you please stay focused on the important parts of the conversation?' She asked, slightly annoyed. DG didn't bother to hide her smirk, but nodded apologetically.

'Sorry. What's outside?'

'The sisters.' DG's blank expression encouraged her to continue, but she was interrupted by the man who was suddenly standing beside them.

'The witches of the East, West and South.' Glitch told them, and grinned at DG's continual blank face. 'I found in one of the books of history that there are the four witches of the poles. The fourth is Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. She helped the first slipper, Dorothy Gale the first. But since she's pure of heart and helpful, the other sisters don't include her in things such as this curse they put on themselves.'

'Well, not so much a curse.' Az explained. 'A protective charm is more like it.'

'Yes, well…' Glitch stammered, his face turning an unnatural shade of pink. As much as DG was glad to hear her sister's laugh as she giggled at the man, she cleared her throat, hoping to understand what was keeping them inside.

'Sorry Doll. Well, the thing is when the witch of the South was killed, it activated the charm.'

'And what exactly does this charm do?' Cain asked fiercely, starting to get sick of the suspension.

'It brings them back as one.' Azkadellia replied. 'Well, not as strong as they were but still enough to be threatening. Especially since they get stronger when they evoke fear. Everyone's screams are feeding them.'

A yelp from a woman interrupted them and Cain grabbed the arm of a soldier who was passing them.

'Stop everyone screaming and calm them down. Not a word from anyone until they get out of this building unless it's to warn everyone else.' The soldier's eyes widened as they realised what they had just been asked and how impossible it seemed. How would they calm everyone down if they themselves could not speak?

'Tell us more about this.' DG asked her sister and her friend as Cain suddenly ran off with an _Ah ha!_.

'We're still trying to figure out how to defeat them, but I was thinking maybe a combination of their deaths.' Glitch replied. 'I think I'm beginning to form a plan.' The pride in his voice made both girls smile, but DG felt an unnatural calmness pass through her.

'Raw?' She asked and saw the viewer walk through the crowd, silencing them with simply his presence. The smaller viewer next to him was tapping people's wrist, presumably needing contact to do the same thing. A fedora bearing Tin Man came out from the crowd as they were began to be ushered through a tunnel that had opened moments before, and was wearing one of his smirks. DG stuck her tongue out at him, not sure what was going through her at the moment, and putting it all down to the bliss she was feeling thanks to the viewers grabbing ahold of her hands.

'What's happening?' Cain asked as he reached the small group and DG turned to the royal adviser.

'Glitch here, has a plan.' She replied happily, her voice surprisingly confident.

And without waiting for an insult from the Head of Military, Glitch filled them in.

_Hey everyone. Thank you so much for all those who are reading and reviewing. I'm sorry I didn't update last weekend, but I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed. I had been hoping to update every weekend at least, but it's coming up to the end of the term so I'll be needing to do assignments and studying a fair bit more and such. _

_But anyway, please review, it'll be much more encouraging to give up my study time if I know people want to actually read my work. I really can't wait to write the next chapter, I hope it turns out better than this one. This was mainly a filler between this and the next one. _

_I think this will be a fairly short fic, but I _promise_ the sequel (which I also can't wait to write) will be much more plotty and have a fair bit of Cain/DG. But I'll bring some in fairly soon for you. _

_-B_


	4. The Physical Law of Gravity

Cain knew it was stupid to let DG and himself to get into a situation like this, but for the past few hours he had been just that: stupid.

'Do you think Az and Glitch still have the flare?' He heard DG whisper as she pressed the top of her head against his chin. 'Or would Glitch have set it off too early?'

Though he was scared that the Long coats roaming the halls would hear him before they were meant to be found, he allowed himself a chuckle. It might even distract him from this annoyingly comfortable position he was in at the moment. DG leant in closer to the man and felt the vibrations from his throat as he gave a gravely laugh. Cain felt her lips rise in a smile on his neck and grabbed her waist, banging his wrist on the wall of the closet and waiting for the signal DG would receive once the Long Coats were distracted with the head case's latest invention.

'Cain, what do you recon will happen if we don't make it to the sisters?' She asked, and he was surprised to hear her voice less confident than usual. She was the plan's most avid supporter only moments ago, he wasn't sure what was changing her mind. She opened her mouth in reply, but before she could say anything, the little cupboard they were in shook as a large sound like fireworks exploding right next to them sounded.

'Time to go.'

'He set it off to close.' Cain growled, but none the less opened the door violently and pushed the girl out. 'Where are they?' He barked, hearing shouts of Long Coats as they made their way up to the room they were in. When he didn't receive an answer straight away he glanced over at DG but saw she had her eyes closed in concentration.

'On the veranda of my room.' She muttered softly, and Cain glanced at the door only held shut by a flimsy lock as she continued to keep her eyes shut tight. 'They have a perfect view of the sisters.' DG's eyes flashed open in surprise. 'We have to go. _Now!_'

Cain didn't bother to ask what was wrong- he knew it was urgent and in the past five minutes she had proven herself more responsible than he thought she was. Who would have thought she would actually hide them, instead of taunting the longcoats? He knew he would have done that if he had her position, youth and stupidity. Well, maybe not stupidity. He would have to think of a better word.

Before he managed to lose track to much, DG grabbed his upper arm and dragged him towards her room through a door adjoining the one they were in then. Unfortunately, they found that door to be completely and utterly locked.

'Can't we distract the guards and go through the other door?' Cain suggested as the girl tugged hopelessly on the door knob. She gave a sheepish smile and turned away from him before replying.

'They won't move from that door.' She muttered, and walked to the window of the room, hanging her head out to see how far it was to her balcony.

'Why?' He asked, knowing that the answer to the question would be very dangerous to his blood pressure.

'I might have written something on the door and locked it with magic. So that Az and Glitch had a better chance of getting to my room.' She added quickly, seeing his expression. Just as Cain was about to yell abuse at the princess, she grasped her head with a shriek of pain and fell to the ground, writhing slightly.

'Kid? What's wrong?' He asked, panicked. She only moaned in response, and grabbed the hand that he had placed on her face.

A bright flash of light, not unlike the one he saw being emitted from his hand that morning, blasted from the touching skin and his head exploded into the pain he assumed DG was feeling at the moment.

_ANOTHER ONE? JUST STAY AWAY IF YOU KNOW WHATS GOOD FOR YOU. WE CAN SEE INTO YOUR HEART. STAY AWAY AND YOUR LITTLE COMMANDER SON WON'T BE HURT. YOU'RE LITTLE PRINCESS WON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS PAIN IF YOU JUST STAY AWAY. IT'S TOO LATE FOR THE OTHER TWO. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT LEAVING THE CASTLE. JUST STAY AWAY FROM US AND YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO SURVIVE. _He arched his back in response to the pain, and in doing so, kicked the princess lying beside him. _DEATH. PAIN. TORTURE. WAR. LOSS OF FRIENDS. FAMILY GONE. NO MORE PRINCESS._ When he kicked her again, DG's eyes shot open and she immediately let go of the hand that she had been holding.

'Cain?' He slowly opened his eyes, bracing himself for something- anything that would happen. That voice suggested that something would happen. Not what it was saying really- he hardly concentrated on the warnings, but the actual voice. 'You okay?' His eyes opened fully, and he was surprised to find that his head was fine. In fact, he had no idea why he was on the ground despite the pain he had felt before. Surely it couldn't have been that bad.

'Yeah kid, I'm fine.'

'I'm sorry.' She offered him a hand, which he eyed reluctantly before accepting. To his surprise there was only a small voice in his head, laughing at his fear. No scary voices telling him to stay the hell away.

'Nothing to be sorry for.' He muttered before violently bringing his hand back. It was only when he noticed the lack of voices that he also noticed how soft DG's hand was- surprisingly so. Especially since her gloves had since been discarded and she should have had blisters from all her swordplay practice. That was why she wore them in the first place.

'We have to get to my room.' DG told him, her voice rising to a level of confidence that seemed as if she were ordering him. He remembered part of the threat that was bursting in his head moments before- 'IT'S TOO LATE FOR THE OTHER TWO' and realised she must have heard it too.

'They'll be okay.' He told her, his voice softer than he meant it to be. She turned back to him and her eyes were full of determination.

'I know.' With that she leaned again over the balcony of the room, looking for a way to get across the five meters to the edge of her room's balcony. Cain reached out to steady her, his hand grasping her waist. DG kept her face away from the ex-Tin man to avoid his seeing her face turn a bright shade of red.

DG was reminded of her time hanging of the balcony at the old tower, and she permitted herself a smile as she realised she was in fact not afraid of heights. The Cain that was standing behind her seemed not to have that luxury.

'Can you trust me?' DG asked Cain, still facing away from him. She could imagine his worried glance down the seven stories to the busy city beneath them, and he asked himself why he had to feel worried now but not when he was falling from a window with a bullet at his chest into a frozen lake. Something else to question later, but the girl was still waiting for her answer.

'That depends on what it is.' He replied, a slight strain in his voice. DG violently turned around, accidently pushing him back in the process.

'What?'

'Well if it was to choose an outfit for this ball, I would have your sister okay your decision after you made it.' Her jaw dropped as she allowed herself a glance at her gown and his ceremonious suit. 'But for something like this with your apparent confidence I would have to say yes.'

'Good.' With that she climbed over the edge viciously hoping that the sisters didn't decide to send her a warning while they were doing this. Cain's iron grip remained on her arm as she made sure she was stable on the other side of the miniature fencing.

'What are we doing?'

'A miracle above walking on water.' She ignored Cain's confused look about the other side expression and glared back at him. 'I can't step off if you are keeping such a tight hold on me.'

'I'm not letting go of you.' He promised. 'But I will come over with you.' With a deep breath, and fierce determination to keep his eyes open, Cain rolled over the short fencing and found himself pressing the youngest princess of the O.Z. against the railing. If it were any situation other than this he would have enjoyed being this close to the girl but under present circumstances, all he could do was clear his throat and try to make his way across the tiny decorative edge of the building.

'Isn't it funny how there always seems to be this edge when you need it? But it's always too small for comfort and too big to not go across.' Cain looked across at DG sceptically, breathing in so to fit more of himself on the tiny edge.

'Kid, what are you talking about?'

'You know in movies-' she stopped there, remembering the lack of visual entertainment in this world. 'Don't worry; just try not to fall off. I know how you love heights.' She laughed at his glare and took a small step to where Cain had been moments before. It was then DG realised how inappropriate her shoes were- they had been shined on the bottom so that her dancing seemed more graceful- or it would have if she actually had coordination and didn't act like she was having a sock sliding contest. She also realised she was going off track with her thoughts as she made plans for herself and her sister to have a competition of who could slide the furthest.

'DG! What _are _you doing?'

'Oops.' The slipper muttered as she heard her sister call out. The one thing that Azkadellia wanted to be made sure is that no one would go outside unless it was part of the plan- they didn't want to give themselves up to early to the sisters and Zero at their side.

'Few more steps kid. Just hang on.' It was then something snapped in DG's muddled world and her normally sarcastic glare turned full-forced onto him.

'I. Am. Not. A. Kid!' She yelled and pushed Cain as softly as her newly found mental state would allow.

'Princess!' Cain yelped as his grip on her loosened. It took her a single moment to snap back into reality and watch the man she realised she loved topple and begin to fall back to the seven stories beneath him…


	5. Zero Danger

Cain had never known the nickname bothered the girl- she had never said anything about it, only the playful punch to the shoulder when it was an addition to an immaturity reference. But in the split moment that he lost his balance, his life did not flash before his eyes. He was only mad that the stupid girl had never thought to bring it up before now.

DG- oh, gods. DG was going to lose her balance, he thought. He had plenty of time on the way down to try and think of something to help her. But the crash to the ground came quicker than he expected. When he fell out of the window he had time to appreciate his life, the wind rushing around him, the sharp slice of cold he felt as he hit the ice. But this time he hit the ground much sooner than he would have thought possible. When Glitch happened to die (which was probably soon he thought) he would have a good talk with him about his apparent laws of gravity.

It didn't hurt as much this time either- well that wasn't to be expected. Instead of the deep water to cushion (in one way of thinking) his fall, he would have had about six inches of water from the decorative moat to fall into, glass waiting patiently at the bottom. If he was really lucky, he would have been pushed slightly forward by non-existent wind to a softer patch of grass. But even that would have hurt more. This just felt as if he had a nasty trip. Maybe this is what it feels like when you die as soon as you land. Maybe the sisters had killed him on the way down.

'Cain!' An angelic voice called out. It was like a choir on its own, to accompany the ringing in his ears. 'Are you okay?' The voice, angelic as it was, sounded less like singing and more like someone trying not to laugh at him. 'You can't just lie around all day.' It didn't sound like that of an angel. It was still a voice he wanted to hear every day, but it had some sort of a roughness about it. Sort of like DG's voice.

DG.

'Look, I'll apologise as soon as you get off the shield. It's causing more of a strain than you might think.' Cain opened the eyes he didn't realise were closed and saw her face leaning over him. He didn't know what came over him as he grabbed the back of her head and brought it towards him.

'Wyatt!' The name sounded unfamiliar with the voice and he was brought to his senses. Her face was mere centimetres from his, but all he could see was the concern that was hardly ever there.

'Did you fall too?' He asked, suddenly going into bodyguard mode. DG rolled her eyes- only would Wyatt Cain ask her if she was okay if he believed them dead.

'No. I pushed you, and you landed on my shield.' Her expression was sheepish as she got up and offered a hand. He saw the golden sparks shoot up with every movement, no matter how slight, from either of them.

'"A miracle above walking on water"' He quoted the girl from only a minute before. She grinned and nodded, waiting for him to get up. Cain saw the beads of sweat on her forehead and the slight strain in her expression. 'You haven't been doing your exercises have you?'

'We went riding that day.' She reminded him. What images floated through his mind though, were her face so close to his just as it was only a moment ago. What had stopped him?

Perhaps the fact he was her bodyguard (not really, but it was something everyone accepted), or the fact he only recently became Head of Military, and she the princess of the Outer Zone. Or maybe it was the thing where he was nearly twice her age.

Or maybe it was the fact she pulled back before he could do anything.

Cain shook the thoughts out of his head as he heard a familiar voice call out. 'Zipper head?' He asked, and squinting, could see the royal advisor's indignant expression. Maybe he should stop calling him that. In actual fact, the head case had more power than he did.

'Get off the shield!' The other man ordered. Cain looked around him to see parts of the magical shield breaking up around them. Soon there would be nothing keeping him from falling to the ground. And DG. With a surge of adrenaline that he probably didn't need, Cain grabbed the princess and ran quickly on the shield hoping the girl could last a few more seconds as he speed towards Glitch and Azkadellia. The last bit to break up did after they were secured to the more dangerous side of the balcony of DG's room.

'Couldn't you have simply walked the one step to the edge?' Glitch asked Cain as he helped pull DG over the fencing, identical to the one of the other balcony.

'Too simple.' Cain replied, trying to pull it off as a joke and decided he failed. You can't really joke when people's lives are in danger- he couldn't anyway. DG managed it just fine, and it always brightened up the mood.

'I'll never understand you Cain.'

'I'll try to enlighten you when we don't have homicidal witches trapping us into a castle and trying to screw with our heads.' He shot back. He heard a snort of laughter from his arms and saw DG smirking to herself. Maybe he could pull it off from time to time.

'He's right Ambrose.' Azkadellia said, her voice almost as low as a whisper. 'We need to get this done. Can you set off the flare from here?'

'Wait, you guys haven't set it off already?' Cain asked cautiously, remembering the fireworks that exploded near them.

'No. We just made very loud noises so that you two would get out faster.' Glitch replied and grinned at the now furious Cain. 'I'm joking, we did. But the princess suggested I bring two.'

'Good thinking Kid.' He told the girl he still had not let go of (once he was far away from the edge of the balcony). To his surprise she did not react to the nickname. He felt her hair move slightly on his arms as she shook her head.

'Not me, I didn't think that far ahead forward.'

'The princess Azkadellia.' Glitch motioned to the elder sister who turned pink slightly. It suited her more than the regular snowy complexion. 'May I suggest that we either lower our voices or get this over and done with?'

Everyone straightened up, understanding what Glitch had suggested even more than he did.

'I'm suddenly not too happy with this plan.' Cain said as DG and Azkadellia stepped up onto the fencing, hands clasped and emitting light. Several stories below them stood the three sisters who were combined into one body and Zero, who with a gun secured firmly in his fist thought he was protecting them.

'Why? You're the one who fell.' DG grinned at the man, deciding to do the apologies later when –if- they got out of this. 'Glitch, NOW!'

With that a million miniature rockets shot up into the air with a loud bang, and once they had reached their maximum height, began to rain down on the creatures below the four. Cain was surprised- when Glitch had mentioned flares in his talk, he didn't think he meant _these_ sorts of flares. But it did make sense, he realised when the screaming started. The rockets had been filled with water and stones, with a touch of magic Azkadellia had put in when DG had skipped a lesson.

Here's hoping that going for a horse ride didn't cause the sisters to overcome the elements that landed on them. He wouldn't be allowed to yell at DG- he was the one who suggested it, in a way.

When the now steaming sisters looked up, they saw the other sisters on the balcony staring blankly down on them. DG suddenly screwed her eyes shut in concentration and making sure that hers and Azkadellia's hand were fastened together tight enough, took a step off the balcony into plain air. Hoping that she or Az wouldn't get panicked enough to make a shield beneath them, DG opened her eyes.

Beneath them Zero was running into the castle, pistol in his hand and fire in his eyes.

'No!' She tried to scream out, but the wind took the sound away before anyone could hear it. He was meant to stay here- not go after Cain. They should have thought this out better, or have made the man go with the rest of the hostages. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

'Now!' She heard Az scream from beside her. How she managed to keep her voice, DG didn't know. It took a moment for DG to react to what he sister was saying, but when she finally did, DG pushed out the light as much as she thought was possible. Azkadellia had already told her she would focus it- the youngest didn't even know what was going to stop them from crashing into the earth.

Five meters to go and DG felt everything slow down as Azkadellia focused. She was no longer falling with an acceleration of 9.7 meters a seconds squared (Hey, she did remember something from Glitch's rambles about differences between here and the other side), but rather falling at a comfortable walking pace. The annoying thing was _she_ had slowed down to.

A sigh escaped her sister's lips and DG heard a rumbling she recognised somehow as water. A lot. It seemed that even though the water surrounding the castle wasn't very much, there was enough of it, it might be enough to break their fall.

The water kept building up incredibly fast. It was as if they really were falling at a slow pace and the water could go as fast as it could rather than her brain just slowing down. She had to hand it to Az- she could do some pretty good party tricks. Suddenly, as they were about to touch the water she heard a shout of her name. Before she could do anything about it the world sped up to its normal pace and she hit the water, trying to take a deep breath before her head went under.

DG had thought she would have to swim out of the water bubble that broke their fall but beside her, Az opened her eyes and lost her concentration and the water splayed out. Trying to stop her teeth chattering in the cool and damp night, she looked around to try and find the sisters.

It seemed that one of them had escaped the body. Maybe even two.

'I expected you to be stronger than that. Maybe this will be easier than I thought.' DG heard someone say beside her. The person had Az's voice, but it was confident and loud. Something Az hadn't been out loud since the witch left her body. Something DG only heard in her head.

_HOW DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE BRATS!_ DG clutched her head in pain with the hand that Azkadellia wasn't holding. The only signal that the elder princess had felt anything was a slight tightening of the grip of her sister's hand. The light between them grew brighter.

'We're face to face now. You may use your mouth instead of your mind.' Az replied, her confidence not faltering.

The creature's face looked surprised for the shortest of moments before it's broken face split into a wide grin. DG could see each tooth- smaller than normal and all pointed and yellowing. Teeth that could cause a lot of pain only by gnashing them together. A slight shudder went down her spine. Maybe she was part vampire.

_Don't be silly Deeg._ She jumped, not expecting the voice in her mind. _Vampires wouldn't scare you like that. If this creature wasn't fully witch I might even say part Seether. Except for the lack of beauty_. The comment sounded strange for the situation, but then DG realised what her sister was trying to do.

_I'm calm._ She replied thankfully and was rewarded with the feeling of Az's relief. The light coming from their joined skin glowed a little brighter.

The witch saw the change in light intensity and DG noticed her eyes grow wider in horror. The thing that stopped her before would be able to stop her again. Well, both princess and their protectors several storeys above them hoped that anyway.

Azkadellia also noticed the reaction and wondered how it could happen if the witch had no eyelids. Odd... DG glared at her sister's reaction, trying to understand if she was always like this in her head or if it was just when they were trying to save the world and possibly die in the process.

_She'll grow stronger by our fear. Don't think about it and you won't know what to be scared of_. Well... that made sense anyway. DG closed her eyes in concentration and tried to think of anything but the witch as the magic built up inside her chest, ready to be shot out. But as soon as she closed her lids all she could see was Cain being shot by Zero with his own gun.

_He'll be fine_. Az soothed, trying to reassure her.

_He better be, or I'll kill him_. DG grumbled back mentally. She saw her sisters smirk in her mind and realised that she knew everything going on in there. _Not a word to him_. She warned.

_Not a word. Ready yet? _DG flexed her fingers on the free hand and felt the magic about to burst through. It felt odd in a way- like a massage being painful but still feeling good. The feeling was addictive almost.

_Yes_. Even her thoughts were strangled, and she knew that even if she tried to speak her throat would close up if it hadn't already. _Let's do this_.

_YOU THINK YOU'LL BE ABLE TO HURT ME WITH THIS PRETTY LIGHT SHOW? RIGHT NOW MY MAN IS KILLING YOURS._

The power diminished in DG the slightest- not because of the pain rattling through her head, but because she knew for once that the witch wasn't lying.

_BUT HE HASN'T SUCCEEDED YET!_ DG screamed at the broken creature and felt the sudden surge of power again. She opened her eyes only to shut them again to avoid the blasting light from blinding her. Azkadellia gripped her hand tighter and pulled the magic from her, aiming it directly at the heart of the witch.

With a shrill cry, the steaming woman- broken and battered from having two thirds of her ripped out- fell to the ground and was silent once again.

In the split moment that was defined by silence, she was glad that the thing did not melt again. That would be annoying to clean up. She heard her sister chuckle at her thoughts

Her thoughts were taken away from her as a loud gunshot rang throughout the entire city. How she knew it, DG did not know, but with her hand still clasped to her sister's she cried out for the pistol's owner.

She heard her name being called in return, with more fear than she thought was necessary. It was then she felt it.

Taking her hands to her abdomen, DG was confused by the pain. The noise had sounded, there was nothing and now this. It took longer than necessary to put it all together. She noticed she had let go of Azkadellia and could no longer feel her emotions, but only her direct thoughts.

_No! DG! No, no no no no!_

The same thing was being called from several storeys above them.

She lifted her hands to inspect the sticky material covering them and was disappointed to realise that the crimson hands was the last thing she saw before she drifted into another place. One filled with darkness and no Tin Man.


	6. For Eve: Whose Eve?

Cain almost growled when Glitch began to tap his shoulder. Partly because it was accompanied by his name repeated- enough to want to kill any man- but mainly it was because he saw what he assumed Glitch was seeing. Zero had began to run towards the castle, stopping momentarily at the bridge that lay over the six inches of water that was there… or wasn't. But once the witch had lifted the shield where the door lay he ran through, metal doors swinging behind him as if they were ignoring the enormous steel locks that kept them shut. He snorted at the thought. Doors being as stubborn as certain princess. He'll have to remind her of that one later.

That reminded him to check on the princess. He was sure that Zero would not take that long to get up and as long as he could check on DG one more –last- time. Leaning almost dangerously over the short fencing, Cain saw the girls holding hands- the light emitting from the touching skin making him squint. He noticed the poor girl was shivering and was going to question Glitch when he saw the light reflecting off the puddles that lay on the ground. That was where the water got to.

'I always wanted to catch you with your back turned.' He heard the poisonous voice taunt behind him. _Bye DG_. He thought quickly as possible and turned to be face to face with the murderer. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Glitch lying on the ground, eyes opened in shock. A trail of blood was leading from somewhere hidden in his mop of hair towards Zero. He was surprised that he was surprised. It took him a fraction of a moment to recognise Glitch's skill and the respect he kept under wraps for the royal advisor. Maybe one day he'll tell him.

He let out a breath of relief when he saw the man's chest heave up and down slightly. Alive at least.

And then he was on the ground. Zero had seen him distraction and taken advantage of it- lunging for the older man. Cain was more surprised that he wasn't flying through the air again- if he ever did. His proximity to the edge was idiotic in a situation such as this.

But instead Zero had attacked him- dragging him to the ground and pushing his shoulders down in a way that he could not get up again. He growled in response, to angry to form an intelligent sentence. As they struggled Cain felt his pistol being taken from its holster, the sudden loss of weight feeling alien to him. Quicker than he believed possible Zero jumped off him and aimed below them, pulling the hammer back.

'For Eve.' He whispered loud enough for Cain to hear and winked as he pulled the trigger. In the silence that followed the explosion he heard his name called.

He jumped up and leant over the side, reaching his arm out as if to catch the bullet he knew had already imbedded itself it the girl. With the light he was able to see the red staining the girl's dress.

'DG!' He called back, his voice strangled. He wished he was able to not see the crimson stain making its way to the ground from the wound. He saw a slight bulge nearing the bottom of the dress and realised DG was crumpling to the ground. Her fingers slipped from her sisters and the world went black.

'No! No!' He repeated several times, unable to do anything except sit here. He could not move, whether because of injuries by Zero or by his mental state not permitting it. He twisted involuntarily and fell to the ground, placing his head in his hands, and leant back against the fencing. He was glad for the posts painfully sticking into his back and wished for anything that it would fall against his weight, taking him with it.

Something heavy hit the ground. Presumably his pistol, but at the moment he could not distinguish any noises.

He felt someone crouch next to him, knowing it could only be one person. Only one person had the physical strength to stand at the moment. He felt the warm breath on his cheek and wished for anything that he could punch the person next to him. If only he could move.

He breathed in deeply, as if to gain enough oxygen to help his task but stopped when the person's breath filled his nostrils. It was not the pungent aroma that normally signified Zero, but instead was a sweet smell. One with a certain roughness about it.

'Whose Eve?' She asked and Cain turned to look into Azkadellia's face.

'DG?'

'Fine. I'm guessing probably better than what you are. You've been sitting here for an age.' Her voice was different- confident and strong. It was not the voice of a liar he decided.

'You smell almost like her.' He whispered, surprised by his hoarse voice. 'But she's more like wildflower.'

'Won't have anything else in her room.' She replied, her voice light-hearted.

'I thought I killed her.' He whispered. He had to keep himself from getting up, from going to her room. Because what if he was wrong- if _she_ was wrong. What if DG was not fine?

'You didn't pull the trigger.'

'I had the gun.'

'And what about Eve?' He voice was almost demanding. He closed his eyes and remember the way Zero looked as he told him. It wasn't as if he was punishing _him_, but merely explaining.

'I think DG must know her.'

'I didn't see any of that in her thoughts. But during the last few minutes they were only centred around one person. It's hard to concentrate on anything else when she's thinking like that. ' She looked at him from under her lashes, trying to judge his reaction. All he could do was sit there and try to be happy. DG had found someone. He looked back into the elder princess's eyes and could see a slight bit of malice in there.

'I think I might go see her.'

'I don't think you should.' She replied shortly. 'I know how you feel about her. You'll only get her hurt.' He remembered something about Glitch gushing how brilliant Azkadellia was at reading people. This must be one of those times.

'I'll never hurt her.' He replied stiffly. Her gaze softened a bit, but not enough.

'I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt her but- oh gods, she's going to kill me for this- but I know you don't love her as much as she loves you.' His breath caught in his throat again. 'It'd be hard to.' She whispered. He wasn't sure if he was meant to hear that, but was surprised she said it anyway.

'I've got to go see her.' He whispered, unable to raise the voice level any higher. Azkadellia's glare answered his statement. But before he could rebut her look she closed her eyes and sighed, slightly annoyed.

'She wants to see you. Go.' Before she could do anything to stop him, Cain jumped up from sitting position and ran into her room- to find it empty. Of course she wouldn't be in here, she just got shot. She's probably on a stretcher, dying. But Azkadellia did say that she was fine...

He began his dazed trip to the healing rooms, where he presumed she and everyone else was. He wished that he didn't know the castle as well as he did- so that he could use trying not to get lost as a distraction. But instead he wandered, knowing exactly where he was going and where he had been. He wondered what was meant by Az's conversation. Surely she wasn't worried about his disappointing DG. He would never- could ever do that to the girl. All he wanted to do was make her safe.

'When will she wake up?' Cain heard a grief-stricken voice ask as he rounded the corridor.

'She should soon. The wound should not have caused this kind of response, but I assure you we are doing everything we can.'

'Couldn't she have just hit her head on something when she fell?' A rougher voice, but still as sad, asked the unknown. He turned again and saw the kind and queen talking to a vampeer. The king-consort was holding his wife in a protective hug, as if trying to hide this sad news from her.

'She appears to have no head wounds that would cause this. But I was suggesting her failing morocyte system.' The pale creature told them. Cain had heard that though they were fantastic healers in their best state, these beings had not a drop of magic in them. Perhaps an alchemist would have been able to heal DG faster if they were not evil.

'She's losing her magic.' He heard a voice translate and was surprised to see the eldest sister standing beside him, a ghost of her just confident self. 'No one knows why. The blast may have weakened her, but the only way this could happen is if someone as powerful as her took it, or she…' A choked sob prevented Azkadellia from going on. She put a hand to her mouth to quiet the sobs.

'Highness. What?' He knew it was wrong to press on, but he had to know.

'If she was giving up.' Glitch told him from the other side of Azkadellia. He put his arm around her shoulders and whispered softly in his ear. Cain had to simply look away and watch the other pair try to comfort each other. After that became too hard, he walked into the room ignoring the protests from the vampeer healer.

Cain refused to believe that DG was giving up. He didn't know anyone else who could fight better than she could- she lost most games she played but that didn't stop her from trying to beat Glitch at chess, or Jeb in swordplay.

The girl drifted on the bed looked different- like she was DG but without everything that made her DG. This couldn't happen in the few hours he missed.

'You said she was fine.' He murmured.

'I'm sorry.' A voice replied, still thick from tears. He jumped, not realising that she was actually behind him. 'I wanted to know if you would still see her if she was just fine. If what I said didn't scare you away.' She looked out of the window and sighed sadly. 'I can't read you as well as I read other people. Normally I know what's happening in someone's head straight away. With you I have no idea.' She laughed softly, the sadness making it sound dead. 'The only people who surprise me more than you are DG and Ambrose.'

Cain brushed the cold arm of the girl lying on the bed, his fingers tingling slightly as the skin made contact. He felt it twitch slightly, showing that she was still alive. 'DG?' He asked, feeling the slightest bit awkward with her older sister there.

'Mmn?' A soft voice replied. Her head was a fraction from where it was a moment ago.

'Kid?'

'Don't…' She mumbled slightly. Azkadellia heard this and practically jumped over to the bed.

'Deeg?' She grabbed her hand not too gently and a shot of bright, golden light momentarily blinded the Tin Man. 'You there?' she asked aloud. Not a second later she erupted into excited laughter.

'I'm waking, I'm waking.' DG muttered, and before him Cain saw the girl come to life. 'I heard Cain's voice. Is he okay?'

'I'm here kid.' He grabbed her free hand and was surprised to feel himself sucked into something. He was still seeing everything through his eyes but was hearing two pairs of thoughts. It reminded him of the coronation. He realised it was DG's thoughts he could hear in this odd trance and tried to remember how they spoke last time.

_Can you hear me kid?_

_Sure can. How deep is this thing going? I can _feel_ everything you are. It's like talking to Az._ Cain closed his eyes and tried to concentrate harder, going through every emotion DG was feeling at the moment. It was confusing- she 

didn't have just the normal emotions of happiness and sadness, but a light pulsating different colours next to people's names. At the moment the strongest two were his and Azkadellia's name.

Her sister was glowing emerald- the colour of family and friendship intertwined.

His name was glowing ruby- the colour he was sure her name would be in his chest. The colour of life, of love, of hope. His throat went dry as he tried to make out words but realised he would have to try to think straight if he wanted to communicate with her.

_She wasn't lying._ He thought loudly.

_Azkadellia? _The tone of the thought was curious towards him, and threatening towards the other occupant of the conversation. He felt a piercing glare.

_I told you not to tell her! _Her voice shrieked and in reality he heard a fit of laughter escaping the older sister. His connection with both of them broke off as DG attacked her sister with tickles.

'She's awake!' Az called though laughs and four people burst through the door, two of whom obviously had their ears pressed against the wood moments ago.

'Angel!'

'Hey mother. Father. We got her!' DG was sitting up in the bed, her life and happiness infectious. Everyone simply grinned around the bed, enjoying the moment until DG would fight her way out of the room.

'The body has been burnt.' Glitch told DG. Coming from anyone else this statement would kill the mood, but the man had somehow made it so that there was nothing else anyone wanted to hear.

'Then it's over?' DG asked, her face alight in an almost childish grin.

'Well this chapter is.' Lavender replied. 'We still have to explain to the guests. And visitors are coming next week.'

'The villagers?' Az asked, her delicate face folded into a frown.

'Yes. Don't worry dear, they won't recognise you. You've changed too much.' Cain knew that this statement was true, but didn't bother to register it. He simply trying to understand everything that had happened since the eldest princess woke him out of his involuntary trace. He saw DG's hand slide on the silk sheets to grab his, and a light flowed through them once again. It wasn't as bright as when she and Azkadellia were connected, but it surprised him anyway.

_Am I magic or something?_

_Something. _DG's face already joyful face split into a mischievous grin. _I'm mainly making the connection. It's easier with how close we are but still tiring._ Cain tried to pull his hand from hers. _Nice try Tin Man. This is probably the only time I'm going to get to say this before you run away, but I think I love you_. The light emitting from their hands glowed a fraction brighter.

_I think I love you too…_ Cain's thoughts started. He was going to explain why nothing could happen, why nothing should happen but all he felt was DG's happiness before the connection suddenly broke.

'Private conversation.' He heard DG tell everyone that was now staring at the two. He looked around and saw the surprised faces of the king-consort and queen looked surprised- but oddly not offended. He saw the smug smirks plastered on the faces of Raw, Glitch and Azkadellia. They defiantly knew what was going on.

'Seems you say everything that goes through your mind.' DG laughed. She tried to stand up and get off the bed but several pairs of sturdy hands pushed her back down. 'What?'

'No way are you getting up Princess. You might tear your stitches.' Everyone let go, careful that the girl was not going to spring up again. When it looked like she was momentarily defeated, Azkadellia directed everyone out of the room, winking at her sister on the way there. She didn't notice that the room was even being emptied.

'I'll have to wait until you're out of the room then, Tin Man.'

'I'm never leaving your side again Kid. You get into too much trouble even when I am nearby.'

'Ever thought you might be the cause of the trouble.'

'Never.'

'So you were all safe in your tin suit before I came along.'

'Damn right. Now I've almost died several times, and you a thousand times more.'

'So you're never leaving me again?'

'Never.'

'I like the sound of that.' She said before pushing herself further into the silk pillows, smirking as she tried to sleep.

* * *

**Well, this is the end my friend. Of this one anyway. Surprisingly enough this story that has only a mere 6 chapters and not the highest word count actually went on longer that I assumed it would. Thank to everyone who read and reveiwed- especially KLCtheBookWorm. I am going to be writting a sequel- one that I really am not sure how it's going to go and is definatly going to be longer and (hopefully) better. The characters are (hopefully) more defined anyway. Well, again thanks. I'm still trying to pick a few names of characters for the next one so if anyone has any they want to suggest please tell me. Weird ask, I know.**

**-B**


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